


Day 15- Kidnapped

by Broken_Clover



Series: Goretober 2019 [14]
Category: Guilty Gear
Genre: Cross-Posted on Tumblr, Gen, Kidnapping, Pre-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-16
Updated: 2019-10-16
Packaged: 2020-12-17 08:03:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,046
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21051044
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Broken_Clover/pseuds/Broken_Clover
Summary: When he opened his eyes, the world was no brighter than it had been with them closed.





	Day 15- Kidnapped

When he opened his eyes, the world was no brighter than it had been with them closed.

_“What?”_ He thought to himself. _“Where am I?”_

He wiggled in place, only to find his limbs bound with coarse rope and the extent of his movements limited by a stiff material that surrounded him on all sides. Burlap? A bag? How had he gotten into it? And why was he tied up?

“Stop squirming in there!” A gruff, unfamiliar voice barked, and he felt the entire container jostle roughly in response to his movements. Had he been the one to put him in this bag?

Feeling the anxiety build up pressure in his brain, he urged himself to try to stay calm and focused. What would father do in this kind of situation? That was right, he’d stay calm and try to figure out as much information as possible.

At least, it _sounded_ like the sort of thing father would do. If he had ever been captured by the enemy, he’d never told stories about it. It seemed unlikely that Gears would bother with something so strategic, especially with one of their biggest threats. It would have been easier and smarter just to have killed him...immediately…

_“No, no! Don’t think like that!”_ His mind shouted. _“There has to be a reason for this!”_

Ice-cold fear seeped in as a thought occurred. Surely the Gears wouldn’t bother keeping him alive for so long, right? Unless...he was supposed to be some sort of ransom? Kidnapping the son of Commander Undersn and forcing the army to surrender for his safety?

That sent an even stronger torrent of unpleasant thoughts into his mind. Why had he been so reckless? Surely he must have done something wrong in order to be captured in the first place. Father would be able to find a way to free him, wouldn’t he? But what if he couldn’t? What if he was forced to decide between saving him and killing Justice? Would father consider his single life valuable enough to lay down his sword? Would he attack without even considering such a thing?

Damn it, the rope felt like it was getting tighter and tighter around him. It hurt to breathe, and the more he tried to gasp for air, the more his chest ached. Why did he have to be so _weak?_ Maybe this all could have been avoided if he wasn’t so pathetic as to let himself get caught in the first place. 

Out of nowhere, the bag overturned. Without being adequately prepared, he found himself slipping and falling out gracelessly, ending up in a pile on the hard floor.

“Ah. So you’ve finally arrived. Welcome, Mr. Undersn.”

The new voice was very different from the one who’d been carrying him. It wasn’t as gruff, but there was an indescribable eeriness to it. It was difficult to turn, what with being all tied up, but after a moment, footsteps trailed around him until the stranger entered his field of view. 

Thankfully, despite the rope, his mouth remained uncovered. “I-I demand you let me go!”

He winced at how frail his voice sounded. He winced even harder as the strange man grinned back. He was sure that he’d tower over him and would be more than a match in a real fight, but even a man as sallow and skinny as he was managed to cut an imposing figure now.

“My my, and here I thought they wouldn’t be able to get you on the first try.”

“Who are you?!”

The stranger laughed, a sharp, barking sound that didn’t sound quite human. “I didn’t realize Undersn’s little brat was so talkative. Fine, I’ll introduce myself. My name is professor Crow Kuruwaba. But there’s no need to remember it. I don’t think we’ll be seeing each other much after this."

His eyes weren’t red, that was a relief. But it didn’t alleviate the quiet fear that had settled into his bones. Crow clearly still wanted something from him, and he certainly didn’t look like he was going to ask nicely.

“L-listen!” He tried to beg. “I won’t hurt you if you let me go now! I-I know my father will come after me, I promise I’ll let you o-off easy if you just-!”

Crow rolled his eyes, waving a hand. “Let’s not waste any more time. Put him in.”

A large pair of hands grabbed onto him, hefting up his bound body like it weighed nothing. Doing so gave him a better view of the room that he hadn’t been able to see before. It looked like some sort of laboratory. Several massive contraptions were filled with what he could recognize as motionless Gears, floating in a mysterious pale liquid. Another, smaller case of the yellowish fluid sat in the middle of it all, lacking any bodies but still filled with a peculiar array of metal that lined the edges of it.

He only realized that it served as his destination until it was too late. The man carrying him somehow managed to rip the rope off with a couple of sharp yanks, leaving only a stinging pain across his exposed skin. That little pain quickly became unimportant with the sound of splashing, and he found himself being dropped into the container.

The case was quickly covered and sealed before he could so much as lift his arms. The liquid was viscous and sticky, and it made his limbs drag as he felt around in search of an escape route. He absolutely despised small spaces, and the air in his lungs was swiftly running out. There was no doubt in his mind that if he couldn’t free himself, he was going to drown.

It was difficult to make out anything beyond the glass, or very much inside of it. The metal spindles lining the edges unfolded out. Something hard and cold pressed against his mouth, and miraculously, he found his lungs filling with fresh air once again.

Which he promptly put to use as he screamed at the sensation of dozens of needles sinking into his body.

Outside the tank, Crow watched his subject writhe and scream with a pleased little smile. “Congratulations. I think you’re going to make for an excellent Gear, Mr. Undersn…”


End file.
